Fresh Corn and Wild Mushroom Risotto

You've got to be feeling some serious pressure tight now, don't you? Summer is winding down...actually over officially two hours ago (and still 90 freakish degrees here in Portland!)...and that means the bounty that is filling farmer's market stalls and bursting out of gardens everywhere is coming to a close. That's why when w and I were at the Montavilla Farmer's Market last Sunday I had to grab some gorgeous ears of corn, and that was after a customer at VINO stopped by Saturday and bestowed upon me a few choice hunks of white chanterelle mushrooms (!!!) he had just picked that morning. Customers who bring me things....am I lucky or what?!? I immediately thought risotto when I saw the mushrooms, then the thought of adding the brilliant yellow corn, some fiery flashes of red from some chopped padron peppers from my garden (those are the lovely 3" beauties at right), and of course pancetta because everything's better with cured pork! That was pretty much all it took to make one of the best risotto I've had all summer, the corn kernels popping in our mouths, the earthy forest taste of the mushrooms, their sweet/rich flavors set off against the spice from the peppers. Late summer/early fall comfort has never felt better!
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Fresh Corn & Wild Mushroom Risotto
an E.D.T. Original
ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
5 oz pancetta chopped in a 1/4" dice
1 pound wild mushrooms- chanterelles, shiitakes, etc., chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped padron pepper, or other medium-hot red pepper, with seeds removed
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut off of two or three ears
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
48 oz chicken broth or stock,
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and freshly ground pepper

method:
1- In medium saucepan heat chicken broth until simmering. While stock is heating in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat add two tablespoons oil. Add diced pancetta and cook until slightly crisp, about 8-10 minutes. When cooked remove pancetta with slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off excess fat, leaving two tablespoons in skillet. Add chopped mushrooms and sauté for about 8 minutes until softened. Add chopped pepper, pancetta, and corn and sauté for another minute or two. Remove skillet from heat.

the mushroom/corn/pepper/pancetta mixture

2- in medium (3-4 qt.) sauce pan, add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 2 tablespoons butter and heat over medium heat until foaming. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Add rice and stir for 1 minute until all the rice is well coated. Pour in 1/2 cup of wine and stir until almost all of it is absorbed. Add broth/stock to rice (about 3/4 cup at a time) stirring constantly. Let each ladling of broth be almost absorbed until adding another. Keep ladling and stirring until rice is soft outside but with a slight crunch in the middle, about 20 minutes. When rice is almost done, reheat corn/mushroom mixture. When rice is done, add corn/mushrooms and stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup of cheese and combine well. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.

Celebrate the season: Spring Risotto w/ favas, morels, and pancetta

When you have raw materials as beautiful as those above, you don't want to muck them up in any heavy sauces. Risotto is one of the best ways to reward yourself for suffering through a long winter and the perfect place to showcase the bright, fresh spring vegetables bursting out of the produce stands and farmer's markets. And now, my favorite bit of spring is just peeking out of their pods, those legumes from heaven known as fava beans. I used to think of favas as a major pain-in-the-ass, what with the shucking from their fuzzy-on-the-inside pods, then par boiling, then careful peeling of their outer skin, all that before you are left with this tiny pile of beans as a reward for your efforts. Now that I think of it they are still a pain in the ass, but now that I actually know several ways to bend them to my will, I overlook their neediness and enjoy them for what they are. In pastas, whipped up into a dip, and in a risotto like this, their sweet-nutty character really adds tons of flavor interest. Plus the fact that they are around for such a short period of time makes them all the more precious.
This recipe pairs them with spring's other treasure, the heady morels that happen to be my favorite mushroom. Intensely earthy, they also hold a good chew through cooking. Here I mix them with some shiitakes and maitakes for even more complexity. This risotto comes together so easily, and is wide open to riffing. I could see adding a tablespoon of lemon zest, or leaving the pancetta out for a vegetarian version.....well, actually I couldn't see why you'd want to do that, but I know there are some special needs people out there. Bottom line is this is a great main course for 2 or 4, or a perfect first course at your spring dinners!
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Spring Risotto w/ favas, morels, and pancetta
an E.D.T. original

ingredients:
1 to 1-1/2# fresh favas in their pod
40 oz. chicken stock
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 oz. pancetta chopped to a 1/4" dice
3/4# morels, maitakes, shiitake, or other wild mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 cup diced onion
1-1/2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
1/2 cup white wine or dry vermouth
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

method:
1- Bring water to boil in medium sauce pan. Remove favas from their pods. Drop shells (still with skins on) into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and drop into ice bath to stop cooking. When cool carefully peel outer skins and set peeled favas aside.

2- Put chicken stock into medium saucepan and bring to simmer. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium sized sauté pan over medium heat. Cook pancetta until it is browned and slightly crisp. Remove pancetta into small bowl and set aside. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from sauté pan, add 1 tablespoon butter. When butter melts and foam subsides, add mushrooms and cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and and pancetta back to this pan.

3- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter to medium sauce pan over medium heat. When butter melts add onion and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add rice and stir for about 1 minute. Add wine and stir until almost fully absorbed by rice. Start adding chicken stock about 3/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly (Okay, you don't have to stir constantly, but at least 85%-90% of the time. It isn't that hard, I promise!). When rice is soft yet still with some bite (you'll know, I promise), add mushroom/pancetta to the rice. Stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add favas and 3/4 cup of cheese, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with light sprinkle of Parmagiano.

Night of paella!

I'm convinced that paella, along with a great risotto, is what all rice wants to be when it grows up. Thanks to our friends Geo and Edie for providing not one, but two paellera filled with wonderful paella at last night (and Geo, that was a perfect martini!). Both w and I LOVE paella, and any opportunity to indulge in its saffron infused deliciousness is not to be missed. But even if you don't have a paellera (that is what the paella pan is called outside of Valencia. In Valencia both the dish and the pan go by paella) of your own to make it in, here's an awesome recipe that I've done numerous times in my Le Creuset (any heavy dutch oven will work) that absolutely kills it.

Stock up!

On the recent post about fava beans that included a killer recipe for Meyer lemon risotto to which I added the emeralds of spring that are favas, I received a comment about the recipes call for chicken stock (or low-sodium chicken broth). The comment: "Low sodium chicken broth? Ouch!" I have to agree. Now I wish I could say I always have containers of homemade chicken stock in my freezer, but at times I find myself adding that carton of chicken stock to my shopping list. It can be a perfectly acceptable substitute, especially if you boil it down for a few minutes to concentrate its flavors before using. But still, I always feel like such a slacker doing it.

Which of course got me in the mood to make more chicken stock, since I used my last container in the above mentioned risotto. Stock is something I love making. The whole process of taking a big pot of water, throwing in a few choice ingredients, and ending up with this rich, flavorful broth that makes everything taste better is so satisfying. The house ends up with that chicken noodle soup smell that is one of the definitions of comfort, and even in summer when I am less apt to want to spend a few hours tending the stove, it still feels good! Especially when I can escape outside to the garden while the stock bubbles away.

The final point is for those of you who say, "oh, it's just too much trouble, it takes so long, blah, blah, blah...", get a grip, get your asses into the kitchen, and grab that stockpot, because dammit, it is SO worth the minimal effort expended. The recipe I use is from an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats show on Food TV. This is super easy, and makes plenty of incredibly savory, clear stock.

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Chicken Stock
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

4 pounds chicken carcasses, including necks and backs (I use one whole four pound chicken for a more intense flavor)
1 large onion, quartered
4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2
4 ribs celery, cut in 1/2
1 leek, white part only, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
10 sprigs fresh thyme
10 sprigs fresh parsley with stems
2 bay leaves
8 to 10 peppercorns
2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
2 gallons cold water

Place chicken, vegetables, and herbs and spices in 12-quart stockpot. Set opened steamer basket directly on ingredients in pot and pour over water. Cook on high heat until you begin to see bubbles break through the surface of the liquid. Turn heat down to medium low so that stock maintains low, gentle simmer. Skim the scum from the stock with a spoon or fine mesh strainer every 10 to 15 minutes for the first hour of cooking and twice each hour for the next 2 hours. Add hot water as needed to keep bones and vegetables submerged. Simmer uncovered for 6 to 8 hours. Strain stock through a fine mesh strainer into another large stockpot or heatproof container discarding the solids. Cool immediately in large cooler of ice or a sink full of ice water to below 40 degrees. Place in refrigerator overnight. Remove solidified fat from surface of liquid and store in container with lid in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to use, bring to boil for 2 minutes. Use as a base for soups and sauces.

Spring is calling!

It's automatic: Springtime...sun comes out in PDX...warmth...no rain...grill is calling...find piece of animal to cook.........................

But sometimes you need too ignore the siren song, because one of the other signs of spring is fresh, young asparagus that is seemingly calling to you from every stall of the farmer's market, just begging to be cooked in any number of ways. Last night w and I had a very satisfying Asparagus Risotto based on a Mario Batali recipe. Risotto is one of those things that to me always tastes, and feels, so good. The Italian equivalent...along with creamy polenta...of mashed potatoes. Total comfort food. Here's yet one more way to take advantage of spring.....
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Asparagus Risotto
Adapted from Mario Batali
Time: 45 minutes
1 pound asparagus, peeled, trimmed and cut into one-inch-long pieces, tips reserved (I didn't peel the asparagus and it worked just fine. If you're more patient than me, have at it!- bb)
4 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 medium red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for sprinkling.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add half the asparagus stalks and cook until quite soft, at least 5 minutes. Rinse quickly under cold water. Put cooked asparagus in a blender or food processor and add just enough water to allow machine to puree until smooth; set aside.

2. Put stock in a medium saucepan over low heat. Put oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add onion, stirring occasionally until it softens, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is glossy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add white wine, stir, and let liquid bubble away. Add a large pinch of salt. Add warmed stock, 1/2 cup or so at a time, stirring occasionally. Each time stock has just about evaporated, add more.

4. After about 15 minutes, add remaining asparagus pieces and tips, continuing to add stock when necessary. In 5 minutes, begin tasting rice. You want it to be tender but with a bit of crunch; it could take as long as 30 minutes total to reach this stage. When it does, stir in 1/2 cup asparagus puree. Remove skillet from heat, add remaining butter and stir briskly. Add Parmesan and stir briskly, then taste and adjust seasoning. Risotto should be slightly soupy. Serve immediately.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings.